


How To Romance An Astrophysicist

by halestrom



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:22:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29478399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halestrom/pseuds/halestrom
Summary: This wasn't the first time John was hit over the head by something he hadn't seen coming. He just hoped this one worked out better for both parties involved.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 16
Kudos: 119
Collections: Romancing McShep 2021





	How To Romance An Astrophysicist

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the wonderful art danceswithgary created, which you can find [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29469393)!

**Problem: Rodney McKay is moping, and it's ruining everything.**

John had always been able to roll with the punches. At least when it came to specific events. Professional punches he knew how to handle. Personal punches needed a moment. And getting hit with two of them in such a short period was more than he could handle. Really. He hated emotions. They were pesky little things that made people act oddly, and he had never understood an AI’s need to try and be more human. Sometimes John wondered if he was the one who was a little bit broken. No one else seemed to have the same issue.

As far as John was concerned, watching Earth shrink in the mental rearview mirror was the best thing he had ever seen. Better than a Wraith hive explosion, better than the Flutie pass, better than, well, everything. Earth was too loud. It was too crowded, too filled with politicians, and too filled with Jennifer Keller.

Which he knew wasn’t fair. Keller was a good doctor. Mostly. Her bedside manner sucks, but she was a good surgeon. His insides were thankful for that. He knew all of this, and he still didn’t mind leaving her in his space dust as they turned on the hyperdrives and said goodbye to Earth. If he mentally said goodbye and a fuck you to her specifically, then that was between him and Atlantis. And Atlantis still couldn’t speak despite how hard Rodney and Radek were working on repairing the AI code they had found the second month Earthside.

Fewer people and no Keller made the city better as far as he was concerned.

What he couldn’t deal with was the moping. 

Rodney was moping, snapping at every single person who talked to him, and not even Teyla was spared. Torren was the only person spared, mostly because even Rodney wasn’t that big of a dick. John figured it would go away like it always did, except it didn’t. Rodney kept moping and moping even as they landed back on Lantea. There was a moment when Sam came and circled the city where the excitement replaced the moping, but it faded when Sam went to the other side of the planet for the whales mating season.

John could deal with the moping. He had been through it multiple times. Step one. Beer. Step two. Explosion. Step three. Something new and exciting to distract Rodney. It had worked with Katie, and John assumed it would work with Jennifer.

Beer was easy. They were well stocked from their nine months on Earth and blank checks from multiple governments. He did the beer and the pier, and he waited for an explosion. And then more beer and a pier. Then there was beer and the mainland. Beer and Teyla and Kanaan’s life bonding ceremony. A lot of beer and no explosion. Things were calm, and Rodney was still moping. John needed the world to explode now.

Rodney was moping long enough that people were starting to give him looks. Like somehow it was his fault that Rodney couldn’t see the bright and shiny things on Atlantis and instead focused on some Doctor who couldn’t be bothered to accept that Rodney might be prickly, but he was still pretty fucking awesome. 

John was starting to consider sneaking some C4 into one of the pier's damaged parts and setting it off himself when the explosion came. Except, it wasn’t the sort of explosion that the teenage part of himself thought was cool. There was no firebomb in the sky; no flames were licking up the side of things. John could deal with those. No.

DADT was repealed.

John knew he wasn’t straight. He had realized it since he was 15 years old and was in the middle of the most awkward hand job in the world between him and his best buddy at the time. He had accepted it when he was twenty and on his knees at some frat party in college. He had just hidden it. Because he wanted to kiss the sky more than he wanted to kiss a man.

Nancy had been well, not the best decision he had ever made, but he had made his peace with that a long time ago.

But then DADT was gone. Suddenly everyone was giving him significant looks. Looking at him and then at Rodney with their eyebrows raised, back and forth until John wondered if everyone was taken over by some Tennis loving Aliens.

They weren’t. And Lam didn’t appreciate him asking. Apparently, she had the same sense of humor her Dad had. She seemed to like him a little better, but considering where that bar sat, it wasn’t much.

Regardless, John knew he was gay, maybe bisexual, but he could never figure out if he slept with women because he liked them or because he wanted to keep his commission, and it required too much introspection for him. He preferred not to think about it.

Everyone knew Rodney was bisexual, the man had the tact of an elephant, and his eyes went wide for every beautiful blonde the same way they went wide whenever some skinny waif of a man wandered past.

John had called it his Legolas Lust. Rodney had thrown his open pudding cup at him. John didn’t understand, but then again, John had always liked someone solid and had never gotten the whole twink thing.

What John didn’t know was a) how everyone knew he was gay. He had been careful. And b) why everyone assumed that just because he was gay and Rodney was bisexual, they were in love with each other. Rodney was his best friend, and that was that.

“You’re in love with him.”

John choked on the coffee he had been drinking, groaning when some of it went up his nose. He grabbed a tissue and blew his nose, wincing at the hot liquid before glaring at Ronon. “What?” he demanded.

“You’re in love with him,” Ronon repeated like it was apparent. John wanted to glare, but then he noticed Teyla and Lorne were looking anywhere but at him, and Amelia was nodding her head in agreement. Radek was his favorite. He was staring into his oatmeal like he could find a ZPM in it.

“No, he’s my best friend,” John replied slowly, shaking his head. “I love him that way, but I’m not in love with him.”

Ronon shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Yes, you are.”

John suddenly felt very bad for David if this was what little brothers were like. Sort of. The guy was still a massive dick half the time.

“No, I’m not,” he said even slower. “I think I’d know if I was in love with someone.”

Even Radek gave him a look for that, and John recanted his opinion. Fuck him and his ZPM oatmeal.

“I’m not,” he repeated, beginning to feel like he was back in the six-week stint where he trained new Air Force Cadets after he had a broken collar bone and wasn’t allowed to fly. It hadn’t been a good time for anyone.

Ronon sighed and put down his fork. John hated it when he put down his fork. It meant business. “You spend all of your free time with him. If you have free time, he is the first one you go to find.”

“I don't! I am spending time with you right now. And usually, when I’m not busy, it’s because all of you are busy, so he’s the only one I have,” John replied.

“You were more excited about his breakup than anyone else, and that included her Dad.”

“ _She was a UMass fan_ ,” John hissed, feeling the desperate need to cross himself. Lorne nodded his head at that, and John revised his opinion. He wasn’t that bad.

“You watch him all the time,” Lorne spoke up. Opinion rescinded.

“He’s weird!” John said. “It’s interesting to watch him.”

“Killed a man for him,” Radek offered.

“I did not! I merely laid out the facts as it were, and he made a decision based on them,” John defended himself, the same defense he used whenever a therapist asked him about it. He was damned if he was going to tell them he slept like the baby the night after. That road was paved with therapy and padded walls.

“John,” Teyla said, speaking up, and John tensed up, knowing he was about to be KO’d, but he couldn't see the punch. “If you could only talk to one of us again, and no one else, who would it be?”

John opened his mouth about to say any one of their names, but it died in his throat. None of them would be right because he loved them, but he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of eternity talking to them and only them. That way lay madness for all the parties involved. John couldn’t see himself spending the rest of his life speaking to one person because he didn’t talk much, and he liked it that way. He enjoyed listening to people, he liked hearing them talk, and he really liked hearing…

“Oh fuck.”

**Hypothesis. Do I like Rodney McKay? Check No, or Oh Fuck How Did I Miss This?**

John was busy. It wasn’t hiding. It was just that he was swamped, and he didn’t have time to talk to his friends. Except for Rodney because the last thing he needed was Rodney getting some idea or clue about what was going on and then bug him about it. Rodney had a way of dragging information out of John that he didn’t want to reveal. So John avoided his friends but didn't avoid Rodney, and as a result, everyone was giving him even more significant looks. Even Woolsey seemed to join in, his eyebrows going so high John might charitably begin to call it a hairline.

He wasn’t feeling charitable.

He was even less charitable when he allowed himself a moment to think about what it would be like to date Rodney. Not sleep with him. It had been a long, lonely six years, and Rodney had made one or two or two hundred appearances when he had enough energy to do anything other than collapse on his bed asleep. Fortunately for his conscious, those nights tended to be few and far between.

Wanting the fuck the man and wanting to date the man were two different things, and John had admitted that he loved Rodney.

Sort of.

But what he didn’t know is if he wanted to date the man. He already knew what it would be like to eat dinner with Rodney. He’d end up watching the man chew food and talk at the same time. John wouldn’t get dessert because Rodney would steal it. Which would be an issue, but John hated sugar, he always had. Even as a kid, sugar had made his teeth hurt, his body felt jittery, and he avoided it at all costs. So Rodney stealing his brownie/pudding/ice-cream was good.

They played chess, watched movies, raced the cars. Aside from making out and sex John didn’t see any difference between what they were doing and dating.

His chair legs thudded to the floor as the realization hit him again for the second time in as many weeks and he looked up at Rodney rounded on him, frowning at him.

“Did you lose your balance? The Teachers always told me not to balance on the chairs because I could fall and hit my head, and let me tell you, losing some very precious brain cells because I was dumb enough to lose my balance was not going to happen to me,” Rodney said, babbling on like he usually did. John just watched him, only half paying attention for a second before he looked around the room.

They were in Rodney’s room. Typical for a free Tuesday night. John was at the table, watching Rodney as he puttered around, talking about this and that. Now and again, John could chip in, just enough to keep Rodney talking. The man’s voice had turned into a damn white noise machine that somehow soothed John. It was like every other Tuesday night for them.

Rodney was setting up the tv as was normal. Popcorn check. Beer check. A slightly too small couch and only one blanket to share waiting for them. Check. Check. It was like every other Tuesday night, and it was like every single date he had been on in high school before he could drive. Even the beer wasn’t that out of place.

“Fuck,” he breathed out slowly.

Rodney stopped talking and snapped his fingers in front of John’s face. “Sheppard, eyes up. Are you having a stroke?

Large hands suddenly held his face, and Rodney forced his head up, and he watched as Rodney peered at him. “No sign of face drooping. Does one of your arms feel numb? Can you say the sky is blue?”

John blinked and then pulled his head back instead of leaning into the grip like he had wanted to for a moment. “Jesus McKay,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “Just thinking about all of the paperwork I still have to catch up on.”

Rodney looked at him, eyebrows furrowed before he harrumphed and turned back to what he was doing. “Now you’re going to give me a stroke. Besides, I thought that was why you brought back that Captain. What’s his name, Pizza? To help you and Lorne with the paperwork.”

“Pizarro,” John sighed. “You know his name, so why don’t you use it.”

Rodney shot him a grin over his shoulder. “If I let everyone know that I know their names, then they might expect me to give them more time than I should. I don’t want to appear _friendly_.”

“Yeah, you’re a real CareBear sharing the secrets of true friendship,” John muttered, standing up and moving to the couch, dropping down and realizing that he had taken his shoes and socks off as soon as he had gotten there.

For some reason, the sight of his own bare feet suddenly terrified him more than anything else in the room. It meant he was comfortable kicking his combat boots and socks off in someone else’s room. He knew what his boots smelled like and often put them on his balcony.

He felt the couch dip down next to him and felt the comfortable press of Rodney’s arm against his own. The rooms weren’t large, which meant that the couches weren’t either. They sucked for taking a nap. They were a loveseat more than a sofa, but John’s mind balked at the term love seat.

“What are we watching?” he asked, needing to try and keep his mind from going overdrive.

“Star Wars,” Rodney replied. “Original.”

“If it were anything else, I’d expect you to be the one having a stroke,” John replied automatically, hyper-aware of the arm against this own and resolving not to let himself get any more comfortable. Rodney snorted and pressed play, starting the movie.

Two hours later, when John woke to Rodney trying to carefully maneuverer him off his shoulder and onto the couch, John wanted to punch himself in the face. For a second, he caught a soft, fond look from Rodney before he smiled.

“Tired old man?” Rodney asked, teasing, but his voice was softer than normal, and John just smiled at him, too warm and too comfortable to be too worked up. He was mad, yes, but there was something soft about this moment that made the irritation with himself wash away.

“I guess so,” he replied, forcing himself to sit up and lean the other way, relaxing against the arm of the couch. “Don’t know why it’s not like we've been busy lately.”

Rodney snorted. “Maybe not _for you_ , but we’ve been twice as busy now that the Wraith are licking their wounds. Do you know how nice it is to do actual science, to be able to work my way through the pile of things I want to do instead of running for my life?”

John hummed, his eyes half-closed as he relaxed, letting Rodney’s mutterings lull him back to sleep.

When he woke the next morning, sore neck and back from sleeping curled up around on a couch that was too small for him, he was greeted with the sight of Rodney sitting at the table, coffee cup in hand, and eyes closed. The steam was curling up towards his face, and he was half-lit by Lantea’s sun. He stayed still and silent, not wanting this moment to pass, just watching as Rodney took a sip, his lips curling into a happy smile.

John felt a pang of want so bad that for a second, he wondered if he was actually having a stroke. He must have made a noise, and Rodney opened his eyes, looking at him. Rodney watched him for a moment before rolling his eyes and going back to communing with his coffee, clearly not put out that his best friend had passed out on his couch.

“Old man,” Rodney said, voice croaky with sleep, looking content and cuddly in a way that made John want to curl around Rodney instead of the pillow.

“Whippersnapper,” he managed to get out, his voice croaky from a lot more than sleep.

* * *

“Oh my god,” John repeated for the third time, head on the desk, Teyla’s hand still rubbing soothing circles on his back. “I love him.”

He heard the groan of disgust from Ronon, or maybe it was Lorne this time, and he inhaled sharply, trying to get his mind in working order.

“How did I miss this?” he muttered, more to himself, but he knew his friends had heard them. “I’m not this stupid. I mean, I know people joke that I never see it coming, but I can usually see myself coming!”

He heard a choked off noise and glanced up to see Lorne looking studiously at the ceiling. He frowned and looked over at Ronon, who had both hands covering his face, and Teyla seemed to be biting back a smile, her hand still moving on his back. He hated how soothing it was, and he hated how small her hand felt. He dropped his head back down onto the desk and let out a long groan.

“Oh my god. I love him.”

“Yes,” Teyla said, sounding far too amused for John’s own peace of mind. “What are you going to do about it.”

“This is good,” he said, shaking his head. “I think we should set up a spy network. Lorne needs some time in charge. I can go and get it done and give him some experience. It’ll be good. Six months, a year, then I can come back, and we’ll have spies.”

“Try again,” Ronon said. “You already know Chuck’s got one.”

“Fucking Canadians,” Lorne muttered, still put out that Chuck had started an informant network, and no one had realized it for two years. It was even more galling, considering Chuck was the man to go to when you needed gossip. John had thought he and Chuck had had an agreement. Chuck gave him all the information he needed, and in return, Chuck got John’s share of the chocolate that came each Daedalus trip.

Fucking Chuck hadn’t warned John about his own feelings.

“You could ask him out,” Teyla offered, her hand still rubbing over his back.

John opened his mouth to deny it, but then stopped, and he lifted his head, narrowing his eyes at Teyla, who watched back evenly. “I could.”

Teyla opened her mouth and then stopped, her mouth still open as she blinked at John in shock. “Excuse me?”

“I could ask him out,” John repeated, sitting up and leaning back into the chair, dislodging her hand. “Except I can’t make it obvious. I need to make sure that it’s sneaky.”

“Why?” Lorne asked, looking confused.

John snorted. “Because he hates it when people ask him out. He prefers it when someone takes him on a date and tells him.”

“He…told you that?” Ronon asked, looking mystified.

John nodded again. “Yeah, I mean, he didn’t mind the thing with Katie. He just didn’t like that Carson was there. And Keller was the one who told him to get her a beer. So, I need to sneak.”

Teyla looked at him, face torn between what he thought was despair and amusement. “That sounds, well. It sounds like an option.”

“I need to talk to Woolsey. And Zelenka. And Miko. Is Miko still on the city? What about Simpson?”

John stood up, wondering if he looked as frantic as he felt right then. He had a sudden urge to drag Rodney out now before he lost his chance.

**Experiment. Make a plan and stick with it.**

“Radek,” John said with his most flirtatious smile, sliding into the seat next to the man and leaning against the desktop. “I need some help.”

“Put it away, Colonel, you not pretty enough,” Radek replied, not looking up from his computer. “What do you want?”

“No need to get rude,” John muttered, staying where he was. It was comfortable. “Has Rodney been overly interested in anything lately? Experiment? Person? Planet? Thing? Anything?”

That got Radek’s attention, and he turned his head, pinning John with a slight frown. “Why?”

John shrugged. “For reasons.”

Radek blinked, eyes looking large behind his glasses before he rolled them. “Date reasons?”

John huffed but didn’t deny it. Did everyone know his feelings before him? “So? Anything?”

Radek leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, watching John. “Why should I tell you?” he asked, looking at John shrewdly. 

John blinked, a little surprised at that. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because you barely even know your own feelings,” Radek replied evenly.

John opened his mouth to deny it but closed it and shrugged. Radek wasn’t wrong, and John had a feeling he would only get one chance at this. “Are you giving me a shovel talk?” he asked to give himself some time to figure out what he wanted to say.

Radek took off his glasses and started cleaning them. “Rodney is all heart, no? He keeps giving it away only for it to be given back because people don’t realize he is still Rodney even when dating them. Would expect _you_ to give the talk but have failed last two times so have decided will do it from now on.”

“Hey! That’s not fair.”

“Is not wrong, Colonel, both Dr. Brown and Dr. Keller were not right for Rodney,” Radek said.

“Well yeah, but how was I supposed to know that? He had to date them to figure it out.”

John spoke again before Radek could. “Also, how was I supposed to do that without getting written up for abuse of power? I can’t exactly roll up to them and demand to know their intentions. Dr. Brown became a biologist because I’m pretty sure the only thing that doesn’t startle her is plants, and Dr. Keller has huge needles that go in my ass, and it hurts enough as is. Rodney needs to figure out if someone works himself. Me telling him won’t work, and you know that. He’d spite date an Ancient if we told him he couldn’t.”

Radek opened his mouth and closed it again before letting out a sigh, shaking his head. “That might be going a bit far.”

“He would consider it,” John said with a half-smile, one that Radek matched.

“So Colonel, why should I tell you?” Radek asked, dropping the other line of conversation for now, which John was glad.

He wasn’t going to admit that he had thought about it. He just felt bad about demanding it out of two women. He knew it was a double standard Teyla and half of his marines would throw him off a balcony, so he kept it to himself.

“Have you ever known me to go through with something and not give it my all? Regardless of the outcome?” John asked instead, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He felt defensive, which he supposed was the point Radek was trying to make.

Radek was silent for a long moment before he shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.”

John nodded, fighting the urge to pick at the seam of his pants. “I can’t promise it’ll turn out well, but I’m not going to give up. I know exactly what Rodney is like, more than anyone else.”

“Cannot deny that,” Radek murmured, turning back to look at his computer. “You remember the Attero device?”

John frowned. “Unfortunately.”

“AR-4 mission from a few weeks ago. Went through the gate to a moon from the database, found an Ancient outpost but had some weird frequency and didn’t want to risk, so they came back and showed me,” Radek said, beginning to type at his computer. “Turns out, the frequency was the same as Attero device. So I sent them back. Outpost made for studying black hole on the edge of the galaxy.”

“So?” John started to say before it clicked. “Wraith can’t go near, and if they went close in hyperspace, their ships would blow up.”

Radek nodded. “Ano.”

John leaned back and blew out his breath. “So what, take him to an Ancient outpost on a moon? How’s that good for a date? We do that most days of the week. ”

“John,” Radek said. “Rodney is Astrophysicist first and foremost. Taking him to observe a black hole is a big deal. Especially since knowing Ancients, they will observe more of it than anyone else in history. Or did something stupid like make it. Could go either way.”

“So either we can watch a black hole, or he gets to yell about how stupid the Ancients are?”

“Ano.”

“Sounds perfect.”

* * *

“How long?” Woolsey asked before John had finished speaking.

“A day,” John said. “In theory. We’re still going off-world, and we know how that can turn out. But there’s this Ancient outpost for observing black holes, and apparently, the Wraith can’t get near it. It might be prudent to check it out as a backup site for safety.”

Woolsey watched him over the rim of his glasses. “I’m not an idiot, John.”

John leaned back and smiled. “I never said you were. But I know how much you like making sure the IOA and SGC can’t question your decisions. So it’s a tactical decision to look at the moon. Especially if we have a way of recreating the frequency without the damage done to the gates this time.”

Woolsey leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, not saying anything.

John smiled wider. “You know, the Chief has been talking about integrating some of the local cuisines more fully into the meals in the mess.” He paused. “Olah was one of the main cooks for her people before she took over when Herick died.”

Woolsey blinked and narrowed his eyes. “You would make a great politician someday,” he said.

John grimaced. “Don’t insult me like that, Richard, you know I hate all of them.”

Woolsey hummed and sighed. “You know I am going to say yes. When do you leave?”

“Few days, I need to get everything sorted just in case it does go up shit’s creek, as well as get some food that won’t make McKay bitch and moan.”

“A romantic picnic under the light of a black hole?” Woolsey frowned. “Or the absence of light, I suppose.”

“Yep. MRE’s on the Moon. Can’t wait.”

—

“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” John cajoled, bracing both hands on the table and leaned down so he could look at Rodney over his laptop. “You, me, an Ancient outpost on the moon. What could go wrong?”

“Ah yes, let's see—explosive decompression. The frequency could destroy my brain. Oh, I don’t know, we could ascend?”

“I don’t think ascending is as bad as the other two,” John said, but it fell flat even to him.

Rodney glared at John. “No, it’s worse.”

He winced but didn’t argue. John didn’t hate the idea of ascending; he just hated all the rules. What was the point of ascending if you couldn’t come back to talk to your friends or play pranks on people he hated?

“Not really, c’mon. There’s a black hole or something, I wanna see it,” John said, walking around the table and perching on the edge.

He wanted to close the laptop, get Rodney’s full attention, but he also knew that way lay danger and destruction. Rodney glanced up at him before looking back down at his computer screen, his fingers never stopping. John always found it fascinating. Rodney’s ability to type and talk at the same time, usually with two different topics. The only time John ever saw him focus on one thing, they were about to die. John found comfort in Rodney doing more than one thing these days.

“Why just us?” Rodney asked after a few more seconds of typing, finally stopping and looking up at Rodney, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Ronon wants to spend time with Amelia that day since she has the full day off,” John explained, feeling a little discomfort at the intense gaze.

Of course, Amelia had the full day off because he had traded Chuck his beer rations for the week to make sure that he and Young John could give her the whole day off. Young John was the new kid they had brought back with them, a third person to run the gate so Chuck could focus more on his informant network, and Amelia wouldn’t be stuck with all the work. He was bright-eyed, excited about everything, and the sort of nice that John expected out of one of Santa Claus’s elves.

He also really didn’t like that he was Old John.

Mostly, he was annoyed because no one called him John, so being Old John was just rude. It was Sheppard, Colonel, or Sir for 99% of the base. Only Teyla called him John regularly. However, Rodney had started to call him John more often, which made him smile slightly.

“And Teyla?”

“Spending time with Kanaan and Torren with the Athosians.”

That had been easy enough to set up, and Rodney wouldn’t question that. With so few Athosians left, Teyla wanted Torren to spend as much time as he could with them, so he would learn and continue on their traditions.

“What about—”

“It’s safe McKay, or as safe as an Ancient outpost on a moon with no atmo can be,” John said. “Wraith can’t get there. No one else can get there or would want to. Not when it’s so close to a black hole. It’ll fuck with the guidance systems of most hyperspace drives.”

Rodney hummed and still didn’t look convinced. Time to break out the big guns.

“I just think it’ll be cool to be able to observe a black hole that close,” John said, aiming for casual. “I mean, it seems like a lot of work just for a black hole. Part of me feels like there would be something else there.”

A lie, but Rodney had never been able to leave a mystery alone, especially when it had something to do with his ego and the never-ending need to go first.

Rodney muttered something John didn’t hear before he sighed. “Final Colonel, we’ll go to this base.”

Mentally, John cheered, but he just nodded his head and stood up. “Awesome, it’s a date,” he said casually, turning and heading out as if it was nothing. Turn of phrase, nothing more. Nothing to get suspicious about.

**Observation. If you feed an astrophysicist food and show him stars, what does he do?**

“Holy shit.”

John’s mouth dropped open as they came through the wormhole onto the moon. They were surrounded by colors, all spectrums of the rainbow, swirling around the surface of the moon like waves, slowly lapping at the shoreline.

“Holy shit,” he echoed Rodney, glancing over at his friend/date and seeing the look of wonder.

John didn’t know what was happening but score one for Sheppard.

“What’s causing this?” he asked, looking back out the window and letting the jumper sit where it was, out of the splash zone in case, allowing both of them to watch.

“No clue,” Rodney said softly. “Looks like the Aurora borealis.”

“It does,” he said, looking back out the window, letting them sit for a while longer. “Want to head to the outpost? See if it’ll tell us?”

Rodney nodded, mouth still slightly parted in shock. John hid a smile and directed the jumper to head for the base, finding it quickly enough. The outpost was near a circle of stones that reminded John of Stonehenge. He flew around it a few times before he frowned, cursing himself slightly. “I can’t see a jumper bay,” he said, glancing over at Rodney, who managed to break himself out of his trance and look down.

A few moments later, Rodney shook his head. “I can’t see one. Looks like we’re going for a spacewalk. Gravity is fine. Entrance is over there.”

Rodney pointed, and John made his way over, settling the jumper in front and looking out at the swirling colors. “Will that affect us?”

Rodney shook his head. “Not that I can tell. I can’t find any sort of unusual radiation.”

John shrugged. Good enough for him. “C’mon, let's suit up.”

He mentally thanked Lorne for making sure they had space suits; it had slipped John’s mind. He had just expected that there would be a jumper bay. There had always been a jumper bay before, every single time.

“Huh,” Rodney said suddenly, and John looked up, watching as Rodney frowned at his tablet.

“Huh?” John repeated.

“Oh, it’s just,” Rodney said, lifting his head and half-smiling at John. “Just gravity is Earth norm.”

“That’s good,” John said, beginning to put his suit on, watching as Rodney stood up and joined him. “Right?”

“Yeah, just, huh,” Rodney said, beginning to get into his suit. “I wonder why. Most places we’ve been have been light or heavier, mostly lighter, thank god.”

“My knees are thankful every day,” John muttered. And every other part of his body. Multiple doctors had told him how lucky he was for the lower gravity. It had made a lot of his injuries less severe. The new physiotherapist had also informed him that if he threw out his knee again, his shoulder, or his right ankle, they would be done, so he needed to be more careful.

John was just surprised it had taken this long.

“You know what I hate?” Rodney asked, and for a split second, John felt a moment of nervousness as he looked up at his friend.

“What?” he asked, trying not to imagine all the ways this could suddenly go bad as a surprise date.

“These fucking space suits,” Rodney said, grabbing the helmet. “We live in another galaxy. We are on a space ship on a moon in another galaxy. We live on a fucking Ancient space city. And we essentially have the same space suits that the Astronauts wore when they went to the moon in 1969.”

John felt relief, and he nodded. “Too bulky.”

Rodney groaned. “I can’t do anything with the gloves. It’s too hard.”

John pulled on his helmet and waited for Rodney to put his helmet on before they did a quick buddy check, and he clapped his friend on the shoulder. “You know that new set of marines I got? The crazy ones?”

“They’re all crazy.”

“These are the science crazy ones.”

“Yes?” Rodney asked warily.

“They’re obsessed with Halo, and they’re trying to create an ODS suit out of Alien tech. Give them a few months, and we’ll have a new suit, I’m sure. Or at least a prototype.”

Rodney grinned, and it made something in John’s chest flutter. He smiled back, grabbed the bag with the picnic, and prayed that nothing would get too severely damaged. He had parked close to the entrance, but he didn’t know how long it would take Rodney to get the door open, or even if he could. Or if the place had oxygen. He suddenly felt very unprepared.

“Ready?” he asked, hitting the button to suck the air into the O2 tanks built into the side of the jumper. Rodney nodded, and John lowered the hatch, watching as the lights lapped at the bottom of the ramp but didn’t seem inclined to come into the jumper. “Well, that’s not weird at all. Wonder if it’s like the mist planet?”

Rodney glanced up at him and grimaced. “I hope not. I hate hallucinating. I hate that I know I hate it even more.”

John stopped at the bottom of the ramp, glancing over to Rodney, who looked down at his tablet and nodded his head. Taking a breath, he stepped out and was relieved when nothing happened, although he had learned a long time ago that just because it was okay now didn’t mean it was fine later. He fought against the urge to grumble about Rodney’s cold turned brain parasite for the nth time. This was supposed to be fun. It wasn’t the time or the place.

He nodded to Rodney, who came down and stood next to them, the two of them walking towards the door.

“Gravity feels normal,” John said. “It feels weird.”

“Not surprised, we’re used to Lantea,” Rodney muttered, eyes glued to his tablet.

John stopped at the end of the ramp, tilting his head back and looking out into space. He was constantly amazed at how many stars there were and was stunned thinking about how many of them he had visited. He nudged Rodney and nodded towards the sky. “Think we’ll visit all of them eventually?" he asked softly when Rodney looked up.

Rodney was silent for a moment before he sighed. “I wished. Sort of makes you want to Ascend so you can, you know?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Rodney snorted and glanced at him before looking at his tablet and fiddling for a second before looking back up and pointing. “See that one?” he asked.

John looked at where he was pointing and saw a lot of stars, but nodded his head. “Yep.”

“Ass,” Rodney muttered, but John thought it fond more than annoyed. “That general direction is Lantea.”

“Home sweet home,” he said. He knew he sounded a lot fonder than he had meant to, but he didn’t mind. “They’ll have to drag my dead body of her.”

“Mine too,” Rodney murmured. “Ronon already knows what he’s supposed to do if I die, and they try and take me.”

“Coup?”

“Exactly, now come on. I want to see what’s inside.”

Rodney grinned at him, and John smiled back, finding himself excited by the discovery. It was sometimes the best part of his job. Even when things were unknown, he could feel a little moment of excitement. It would never get old. Rodney bent over his tablet, only half paying attention to where he was walking, and the sight of something so familiar even wrapped up in a bulky spacesuit made something clench in John’s chest. If this was his future, exploring with Rodney and seeing the whole Universe, then it was worth all the pain he had gone through in the past.

“Chop chop Colonel, this outpost waits for no man.”

“It’s waited ten thousand and six years. I think it can wait a few more moments,” John said, rolling his eyes and following Rodney.

He looked down as he walked through the lights, half expecting them to turn into wisps like mist would, but they didn’t. Instead, they seemed to part for John and Rodney, and that set his teeth on edge. He wondered if he needed to have a talk with Radek about what safe meant. He felt fine for the moment.

“Huh, looks like there’s power,” Rodney said when they got closer to the door.

John looked up from where he was walking and towards the door, mentally thinking open to see if it would work. He blinked in surprised when the door slid open with ease. Rodney stopped and glared at him, and he shrugged. “What? I didn’t expect it to happen!”

“And what if it had expelled all the air and sent us flying?”

“I think the Ancients know how to build an outpost that doesn’t do that by now,” John said dryly. “It’s probably an airlock.”

Rodney glared at him for a moment longer before he huffed and stepped forward. John’s hand shot out, and he tugged Rodney back with a glare, stepping in front of him, ignoring the second huff. This one was annoyed. John was a little worried that he spoke Huff, but he pushed it to the side as he stepped into the room, his helmet lights showing him a small space. No doubt an airlock. He glanced back and nodded.

“Airlock,” Rodney stated when he was in the room.

“Another brand new Rodney McKay discovery?” John asked.

“Asshole.”

Instead of replying, he smiled, feeling happy that he had gotten Rodney to come. It was always so much more fun to explore with Rodney, and he made a mental note to schedule them to explore parts of the south tower. They had cleared about half of it, and it had been a while since they had gone on an exploratory trip.

“Can you get it open?” John asked as Rodney stepped forward.

Rodney answered his question as the door closed behind him, and John felt the sensation of airbrushing past him. The inner door opened, revealing a hallway that looked a lot like Atlantis. Creepily so. He frowned and dropped the picnic bag to the ground, one hand moving to push Rodney to the side as he stepped into the hallway, bringing the gun up.

“No Asurans, right?” he asked, glancing left and right, glad when he saw there was no cross hallway.

“No, not that I can see. Clear of anything except us,” Rodney said. “It looks just like the thoroughfare between the North tower and the Central tower.”

“I think the Ancients had one Architect,” John muttered, beginning to walk through the corridor, glancing left and right half expecting an attack. “And he went to town.”

“I think so too,” Rodney said, following behind him. “There seems to be a room ahead of us, and then two others. The place isn’t big.”

“Good,” John said, stopping by the door at the end of the hallway and waiting for Rodney to open it before he stepped in, heart racing as he cleared the room. “Clear.”

He dropped the gun as Rodney stepped past him, made his way to the console, and began working at it. John took a moment to double-check the room, this time making sure he couldn’t feel anything nagging at him, no secret room or anything. Nothing happened, and some of the tension left his shoulders.

“Oh, this is neat,” Rodney muttered, and John walked over, looking down and making out a few words on the screen. His ancient was getting better, now that he was actively trying to learn.

“What is?”

“This place records the genetic signature of everyone who enters and leaves,” Rodney murmured, pulling something up. “See, this is us.”

He pointed at two lines that had dates John recognized next to him. “I’ll take your word for it,” he said. “I don’t know what my DNA looks like.”

Rodney snorted. “No, but the time matches from what I can gather.”

“When was the last time someone was here?” John asked.

“Ten thousand years ago,” Rodney replied softly, pointing at the next line. “This one has a profile attached to it.”

Rodney did something, and the DNA changed to a profile that looked scarily similar to the ones John got on his tablet with each new increase in marines. He was amazed sometimes at how similar things could be. The man had dark hair and eyes and looked like pretty much any other Ancient he had seen.

“Who was it?” he asked, part of him wondering if it was someone important.

“Lithan,” Rodney replied.

“Never heard of him,” John said, peering at the screen. “Does that say, engineer?”

Rodney glanced up and nodded. “Yeah, but that means jack shit for the Ancients.”

“Why?”

“Because it was their main title. Engineer Bio, Engineer Space. They discovered the word engineer and ran with it. It’s like Colonel or Mrs or something.”

“Oh well, that’s disappointing.”

“What were you hoping for?”

“An x-wing, you’re slacking on that department.”

Rodney raised his head and shot John a glare. “Oh sure, let me just add it in my copious amounts of free time. I’ll slot it right next to power requirements and sleeping.”

“Thanks,” John replied, clapping Rodney on the shoulder. “How’s the air?”

Rodney grumbled to himself but looked down at his tablet and shrugged. “Let see, the whole station now has atmo, air composition is normal. No leaks that I can see. Nothing we know to scan for is showing up, so you know the risks.”

“Right,” John said, reaching up to tug his helmet off. “You know, I’m a little terrified that all these places smell the same as a musty old warehouse.”

“Skin Colonel,” Rodney said, removing his helmet. “Skin cells, oxygen, and good old human body odor. Ten thousand years, and sometimes things don’t change.”

“At least the Ancients never discovered their version of Axe?”

“Small miracles, I don’t think they had teenagers. I think they went from kids to that whole emotions-are-the-devil thing they all had.”

“Don’t forget the ego trips and inability to create a label maker,” John muttered, moving and taking both of their helmets to set it by the door to the exit. “Where do the other two doors go?”

“One is a bathroom,” Rodney said, pointing to the left door, and John walked over, opening the door and checking inside.

“Looks like a bathroom,” he agreed, taking in the toilet and the sink and very little else. Not even a window. “And the other one?”

“Lab,” Rodney replied. “Which makes sense considering what this facility was for.”

John nodded and walked over to the other door and hit the button to open it. The door slid open, and for a brief moment, he felt his life flash before his eyes as he looked out onto the expanse of the moon, the door seeming to open outside. It took a second before his mind caught up, and he let out a breath. “Jesus fuck,” he muttered, his heart racing. “Fuck the Ancients.”

“What?” Rodney asked, sounding worried, coming around and standing next to John. “Oh uh…shield?”

John reached out carefully, expecting to hit some sort of resistance, and felt his heart seize a second time when his hand went through the door. “No.”

A thought occurred to him. “We’re not dead, are we?”

Rodney shook his head. “No, look, there’s plating on the floor.”

John tore his eyes away from the expanse of the moon to look down, seeing the same familiar gray tile on the floor. He took a tentative step forward, one hand outstretched. He snatched it back a second later and shook his head, backing up and dragging Rodney with him until he could close the door.

“What?” Rodney asked, frowning.

“Not doing that without helmets,” he said, walking over and grabbing them. “Not to self, from now on, we don’t remove helmets until we’re done exploring. It never ends well.”

Rodney took his when John passed it over. “They’re annoying.”

“And they have sweet oxygen, and we won’t die if it decompresses,” John replied, pulling his on and waiting for Rodney to do the same before going back over to the door. “Warning signs, seriously. Is that too much to ask?”

Rodney snorted. “Anything is too much to ask from the Ancients.”

John nodded and opened the door, feeling more comfortable stepping out as he walked into the room, keeping an eye on the ground. He saw the familiar gray flooring end and noticed the lights from outside pressed up against something tangible. He stopped and reached a hand out carefully, his fingers brushing against something solid. He stepped forward and pressed a hand again what he realized was a window.

“We’re in a dome,” he said, turning his head and finally seeing the curve of the window and feeling the relief that came with it.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Rodney said, and John looked back.

“What?”

“Observation room.”

“You said it was a lab!”

“Well, I thought it was!” Rodney muttered. “It said observation, and I thought it was like a lab to observe the black hole.” He paused and tilted his head back. “Well, now that I think about it, it actually makes more sense considering what this facility was for.”

John let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the last of the jitters. He had been in space before, on a balcony, but he had trusted Atlantis’s shield then. This was nothing but a window between him and space. He rolled his shoulders again and turned back to talk to Rodney, only to watch him finish pulling his helmet off.

His heart thudded in his chest. “What are you doing?”

His voice was more strangled than he had wanted it to be, and Rodney looked at him oddly and shrugged. “Well, it’s safe.”

“How do you know?” he demanded.

“Because it’s survived on the moon for the past ten thousand years without a crack. I think it’s the same material that we see in the jumper windows.”

“Oh yeah, because that’s never cracked before,” John muttered.

“Under immense pressure. This isn’t pressured. This is space. Very different. And there’s no local asteroid cluster because of the black hole, so we won’t have to worry about meteorites.”

John shifted from foot to foot before he finally sighed and removed his helmet, ignoring the way his instincts were yelling at him in 100-foot tall neon lights. He took a second to stand there before he finally tilted his head back. Standing facing out, the window so clear it was almost invisible, he felt like he was on the surface of the moon.

“This…is cool,” he admitted after a few moments.

“It’s…amazing,” Rodney said softly, standing next to him.

John nodded his head, dropping his head back and keeping his eyes on the sky, unable to look away from it. He felt like he could float away at any minute, and he wanted to reach out and grab Rodney’s hand. He didn’t feel brave enough yet, and he wanted to get out of the spacesuit before he did, wanting to feel Rodney’s palm against his own and not with two layers of thick fabric between them. He settled for shifting and pressing their shoulders together, gratified that Rodney leaned against him a little bit.

“Where’s the black hole?” he asked after a few minutes of staring into space.

Rodney glanced around and then reached out, one hand pointing towards something in front of them. “See the slightly darker area, with the brighter area around it? It’s got fewer stars?”

It took a moment before he nodded. “That’s it?

“Yeah,” Rodney said, stepping forward up to the glass, one hand pressing against the glass. “I wish we could see closer.”

Suddenly, the glass rippled, and John tensed, only for the image to shift closer in a dizzying whirl of colors, and suddenly they could see.

“Holy fuck,” he muttered, stepping up next to Rodney.

The black hole was closer now. He could see the absolute darkness in the middle, the bright field of light, and the way some of the stars seemed to streak towards that darkness with a slowness that reminded John of the lights during hyperspace. He had always loved watching out the windows when they flew, seeing the random jumps of light that would flash alongside them like dolphins from the old sea stories. He wondered what they were. He had asked Rodney and had been told no one knew, and there was no way to find out.

“Fuck,” Rodney breached, suddenly scrambling to pull off the glove and pressed one hand against the glass window. “Look at that.”

John couldn’t imagine what it was like for Rodney right then to see years and years of something he had studied suddenly so close. He figured it was like the first time John had broken the sound barrier or the first time he had taken the jumper into space intentionally. He smiled, mentally reminding himself to get Radek something good as a thank you gift.

“Want to get out of the suits and watch for a bit?” John asked softly, turning his head to watch Rodney stare slack-jawed at the view, seemingly unable to take his eyes away.

Rodney blinked and nodded but still didn’t look away for a long moment before he finally managed and turned and _grinned_ at John in a way that made his heart stutter again. He managed a smile back but figured it was weaker than he wanted it to be.

“John,” Rodney breathed out, face so alight with happiness that John wondered how the fuck he had missed he was in love with the man for so long. It was a look John had seen so many times before, each time he made a discovery when he would turn and smile first at John before anyone else. And every time John would smile back, helpless to do anything else in the face of such joy. This time was no different. “It’s a black hole.”

“Yes, it is,” he said, nodding his head.

“We can _see_ the black hole,” Rodney said turning back. “Look, the accretion disk. We can see it so clearly. We can see how it fades at the end, where it’s pulling more matter into its orbit. We could never see what happened before, and the information was lost because we couldn’t get this close, but now we can. Look, the shape is different because there’s more matter in certain parts, space isn’t even, and it makes a difference!”

Rodney started talking, fast and quick, and John let it wash over him, content to just watch Rodney’s face right then, the bright joy as he kept on talking about the math, and he couldn’t help but smile in the face of the sheer giddiness Rodney was experiencing right then. Rodney kept talking, and John leaned against the window, content to watch for the moment, for however long Rodney would let him.

Finally, Rodney petered out and turned his head to look at John, both eyebrows raised in question. “What?” Rodney demanded.

John thought about leaning in, making some smooth move that had worked for him in bars he probably shouldn’t have gone into when he was younger. Instead, he just shrugged. “Haven’t seen you this excited in a long time,” he admitted, his voice a little softer and a lot fonder than he wanted. “It’s nice.”

Blinking, Rodney watched him for a second before shaking his head. “Well, it’s been a rough couple of months.”

John hummed and looked back towards the view, feeling like he was standing in space right then, and he liked how it felt. He pulled off one of his gloves and reached out, tapping the glass. “Wonder how close we can get.”

The room rippled again, and they were closer again, the picture fuzzy now, but he could still make things out. Rodney gasped next to him, pressing both hands against the glass and leaning in as if that would get him closer.

“You’re like a kid at an aquarium,” John said, pushing away from the window. He walked over to the control room to strip out of his spacesuit. 

“Nothing wrong with excitement,” Rodney said, but his words lacked their customary abruptness. John looked back, and Rodney was still staring at the wall, one hand pressed against the glass, his nose almost touching as if that would somehow get him closer.

John felt something in his chest, and for a second, his breathing catching, and he felt faint. For a second, he wondered if family history was coming to get him with a heart attack. But, he knew what the clutch in his chest meant. He loved Rodney and seeing him half-lit by lights losing a battle with a black hole, and it slapped him in the face.

“C’mon,” he said, his voice hoarser than he had wanted it to be. “Get out of the suit. I think we can assume the place is safe.”

“I told you that already, Colonel,” Rodney replied, but peeled himself away from the wall and turned, smile brighter than any John had seen before _, and he had put it there._

He needed to get Radek something good. Vodka, a better distillery, a raise, a blow job. Something.

John finished setting his suit down where he could get to and into it quickly in case of emergency. He glanced down at the P90 chewing on his bottom lip before looking over at Rodney. “Is there some sort of sensors here, in case of danger? A doorbell or something so we know if the airlock is being used?” he asked.

Rodney stopped the half hop wiggle you had to do to get out of the suits and tilted his head to the side. “Uhhh…yes,” he said, wiggling out of the rest of the suit before walking to the consoles.

John blinked, closing his mouth from where it had dropped open, watching Rodney’s ass wiggle. It hadn’t been graceful or smooth, but somehow it had captivated John more than anything else. He swallowed and turned, walking over and leaning over Rodney’s shoulder to look. He knew he was standing too close, but Rodney had never complained about it before, and John wasn’t going to stop now.

“Uhh yeah, here they are. I just need to..” Rodney said, standing up and taking a step back, bumping into John.

John took a step back but didn’t move much further than that and smiled when Rodney turned to him with a frown.

“Why are you so close?” Rodney asked, standing chest to chest but not bothering to move away.

John shrugged. “Being nosy,” he said, wondering if he should lean in and kiss Rodney. They would be a pretty good time to do it, but Rodney rolled his eyes and shoved past him before he had a chance.

His eyes followed Rodney for a second before he walked to where his things were and putting down the P90, but keeping his handgun. He might want this to be more relaxed, but he wasn’t an idiot—most of the time.

“Sensors are up,” Rodney said, clapping his hands and turning around. “Now, I am going to go and stare at a black hole.”

John nodded, walking over to where the pack was, and grabbed it, hoping the containers kept the food okay when they had been in space. He picked it up and walked back into the observation dome, and dropped onto the floor in the middle, beginning to pull the food out. He could hear Rodney muttering to himself, and he glanced up from time to time, watching him as he began to manipulate the screen.  
He was glad that the food seemed to have survived, and he finished pulling it out, making sure they had everything before he stretched out on the floor, braced back against his elbows, and crossed his ankles. He shifted to get comfortable before whistling softly. It was loud enough to get Rodney’s attention, who trailed off and turned, mouth opened to snap something at him, but his words trailed off when he caught sight of John.

John smiled. “C’mon, lunchtime. We can stare at the black hole and feed your black hole.”

Rodney blinked, and John kept the smugness off his face as Rodney’s eyes trailed down his body and back up, slowly until it reached his face and Rodney blushed. John kept his face blank, just raised an eyebrow as if there wasn’t anything amiss or wrong, with a best friend checking out another best friend.

“Uh...yes, food is good,” Rodney said inanely, turning back to the screen and manipulating it until it showed the black hole again, light streaming towards it slowly. Rodney fiddled with something for a second before he turned and walked over with a casual determination. He dropped down on the other side of the food. “What uh…what did you bring?”

John rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow. “Nothing fancy,” he said. “Grabbed some sandwiches with that weird bird from Herick’s planet, some fruit, some of that weird not soda water, and some of the leftover pie from last night.”

Rodney nodded his head. “That’s uh…why?”

“Because it’s the closest thing we have to Turkey, and who doesn’t love pie?”

Rodney shot him a look. “That’s not what I meant.”

John knew what Rodney had meant, but he was going to act casual if it killed him. At least until he gathered up enough courage to kiss Rodney, he had been a little bit unsure about this whole thing, but seeing the way Rodney looked at him made him feel a little bit more secure.

“I knew we’d be stuck here all day, so I figured I’d bring food,” John explained, reaching for one of the mini watermelon tasting fruits they traded for and popped it into his mouth. “And if you eat now, you won’t have a problem with your hypoglycemic later.”

Rodney eyed him for another second before nodding and picking up the sandwich and beginning to eat, his eyes darting between John and the screen in front of him. John was content, picking his way around the food, wondering if he was pushing it too far every time he licked his fingers when Rodney looked at him.

“Why do you like turkey so much?” Rodney suddenly asked, eyes intent on John’s face.

John glanced up, a little throw that that was the question Rodney had asked. He shrugged. “Used to hunt ‘em and smoke ‘em with my Mama when I was a kid. It’s comfort food to me.”

Rodney’s face went from disgusted at the mention of hunting to soft, and John wasn’t sure why. Rodney looked down at his sandwich before back up at John. “My Grandma used to own a small café when I was a kid. She got annoyed when things weren’t right, so she started roasting her own coffee beans. It’s why I love coffee so much. I’d spend most afternoons there studying, and the whole place smelled like coffee.”

John smiled a little bit. “That’s kinda cool. Did you learn anything?”

Rodney nodded his head. “If we ever found a coffee bean substitute, I could uh…roast them actually. If they worked the same way as the beans on Earth, do, or at least similar to them. It’d take a couple of tries, but I could.”

“That’s awesome,” John said, reaching over for one of the apple-plum things that he could eat all day. “We’ll need to step up finding some beans.”

Rodney hummed, his eyes still focused entirely on John. John smiled up at him, ignoring the way his shoulder ached from leaning against it this long, and instead nodded towards the screen. “What else do you think it could see?” he asked.

“What?” Rodney asked, looking a little bit confused for a second before he blinked and shook his head, tearing his eyes away from where John could feel his shirt had ridden up. Thank God for long torsos and standard length shirts. “Oh, uh. I think so. The cameras are pointed at the black hole, and I haven’t had a chance to look.”

John nodded and rolled back to his elbows, looking at the screen in front of him. “Ask it.”

Rodney’s mouth was half-opened and staring openly at John now, and he couldn’t hide the half-smile. “What?” he asked a little dumbly.

“Ask it. You wanted to see the black hole, and it worked last time.”

“I was touching it,” Rodney muttered, his eyes flickering between the strip of skin and John’s face.

“Through spacesuit gloves,” John said, carefully bracing a foot against the hem of his pants and pretending to shift a little bit, using the motion to hide as he tugged his pants down slightly, feeling them slip down a little bit more. He wondered if it was a bit obvious, but Rodney’s eyes were a little wild.

“Oh uh, what should I do?” Rodney said, his brain lagging, and John sympathized with peacocks a lot more than he wanted to at that moment.

John could only think of one thing to ask. “Think about where we are in the universe, Rodney,” he said, looking over at his friend with a soft smile.

Rodney blinked, his mouth opening and closing before he was moving. “You…you fucking lothario, you goddamn Casanova laying there like some sort of fucking stupid greek statue,” he muttered, pushing the food out of the way and crawling over.

John grinned, staying where he was as Rodney stopped next to him, falling silent and looking at him. “Can I help you?” he asked, relaxing a little bit further.

“I’m going to kiss you, don’t punch me,” Rodney said, a little worriedly.

John took a small amount of comfort that he wasn’t the only one that was dumb as shit about things right in front of his face. “Rodney, we’re in what I’ve been told is an astrophysicist's wet dream, and I brought a picnic. And it’s just us.”

He hadn’t been planning on a picnic, more of a nice dinner with some data diving, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Rodney’s mouth opened and closed, and then John was being straddled, two large hands cradling his face and a mouth covering his own. He pushed himself up until he was sitting, ignoring the relief in his elbows, and gripped Rodney’s waist, pressing back into the kiss. It was messy and uncoordinated, and the hands holding his face were as bossy as the man they belonged to, moving his head this way and that, and John didn’t mind in the slightest. 

John slid his hands up the back of Rodney’s shirt and down again before gripping Rodney’s ass finally and squeezing. That seemed to break Rodney out of his trance, and he pulled back, hands still holding John’s face. “What?” Rodney asked, sounding a little stupid.

“What?” John asked.

“What are we doing?”

John frowned and squeezed Rodney’s ass again. “I thought it was obvious?”

John was fascinated by the blush that seemed to be spreading across Rodney’s face, even as Rodney’s hands dropped to the side. “Just sex?”

“Ancient outpost for studying black holes. Picnic. Just the two of us,” John repeated slowly. “You sure you okay, Rodney?”

Rodney’s mouth opened and closed again, searching for something in John’s face. John could only assume he had that dumb look of fondness that Ronon told him he got whenever he thought about Rodney.

“Hunting with your Mom?” Rodney asked after a second, and John blinked, a little confused, and it must have shown on his face when Rodney explained. “You hold your past so close it’s like you’re afraid it’s going to disappear if you tell anyone. And you told me.”

John didn’t argue against that. His few good memories of his Mama were few and far between, and he held onto them tightly. He shrugged and wrapped his arms around Rodney’s waist, sure Rodney was uncomfortable kneeling on his lap on a hard floor, but John wasn’t going to mention it. He didn’t bother denying it and just looked up at the blue of his eyes and the breadth of shoulders. 

“Want another memory?” he asked softly, willing to give them all to Rodney because he had no doubt he would cherish them just as much as John did.

“No,” Rodney replied, large hands cupping the side of his neck, thumbs against his jaw, tilting his head back. John went easily, wondering where this was going to go. “We don’t need to talk about this, do we? Anymore?”

“Fuck no,” John said with feeling, and with a smile, Rodney kissed him again.

John hadn’t planned past the food, preferring to go by instinct, and so far, it had worked for him. He kissed Rodney back, his hands dropping back down to Rodney’s ass and squeezing again. Suddenly, Rodney pushed him down onto his back, and a mouth attached itself to the unscarred side of his throat. He tilted his head back with a groan, pressing his hips up to grind against Rodney.

He felt Rodney wiggle back slightly and a hand pressed against his stomach before Rodney slid his shirt up, kissing him the whole time. John’s hands slid down Rodney’s back and pulled up his shirt, wanting to get at even more skin than he could. Rodney pulled back, shucking his shirt before helping John with his before he pulled Rodney back down into a kiss, both hands running up and down his back and around his sides.

John had missed this, the feeling of someone over him, keeping him grounded, and Rodney made it better. His hands slid around, fingers traveling over soft skin until he managed to find the button on Rodney’s pants. Undoing them quickly, he pressed a hand inside, feeling how hard Rodney was as he wrapped a hand around him and began to stroke.

Rodney groaned above him, breaking the kiss and bit down on the side of his neck. John grunted, his head tilting back, and his hand squeezing, shuddering at the blunt pressure. “Again,” he said and groaned when Rodney complied.

“Feels good,” he muttered, still moving his hand, Rodney’s hips beginning to fuck into his hand. Suddenly, Rodney reached down and pulled his hand out of his pants, and John lifted his head. “What?”

Rodney bit down on his neck again, and John dropped his head back onto the floor with a groan. He felt Rodney’s lips begin to move down, kissing over his chest and down over his stomach. John was content to lay there, feeling Rodney’s mouth and hands move over his skin. He dropped a hand, gripping Rodney’s shoulder, not sure if he wanted to tug Rodney up or push him down.

He groaned and arched up into Rodney’s mouth as he bit below his belly button, feeling his hips try to jerk up, stopped by Rodney’s bulk. Apparently, that was a hot spot for him. Who knew. “What are you doing?” he asked, pushing up onto one elbow so he could watch Rodney.

Rodney glanced up at him, clever hands undoing his belt and buttons. “I thought it was obvious,” Rodney replied, beginning to tug his pants down, only to stop when he encountered John’s thigh holster.

“You left your fucking thigh holster on,” Rodney muttered, and John felt those same clever fingers quickly undo and move the gun to the side. “That’s the definition of unsafe sex.”

“We’re in a glass dome with no atmo outside,” John said, lifting his hips when Rodney finished tugging his pants down to mid-thigh. “I think safe sex…oh fuck.”

He trailed off with a moan and dropped back as Rodney gripped the base of his cock and began to blow him without preamble. His mouth was hot and entirely too talented. He tried to fuck up into the wet heat and was stopped by the arm thrown across his hips.

John had had a lot of sex over the years. He had had a lot of good sex, great sex even. But the feeling of Rodney’s mouth around him made all of those memories disappear in a puff. The hand gripping Rodney’s shoulder moved, wanting to grab Rodney’s hair to try and do something other than lay there and take it. He hadn’t planned on what would happen if this had worked out, but he had expected to be able to participate more, not that he was complaining.

Rodney seemed fine with it, grabbing his hand before he had a chance to do anything and pinning it to the floor. Message received. John dropped his head back onto the floor, groaning each time Rodney’s head bobbed down, his hips twisting, glad Rodney was holding them as all he wanted to do was fuck up into the wet heat of his mouth.

“Rodney, fuck, I’m close,” he said, his free hand moving to grip his shoulder again, knowing better than to try and do anything else than to hold on. “Gonna come.”

He raised his head, seeing Rodney’s mouth stretched around his cock, and met Rodney’s bright blue eyes that were mostly pupil, and he dropped his head back with another loan moan, his back arching up as he came. Stars seemed to burst in his eyes as he shuddered his way through his orgasm, Rodney’s mouth still moving, sucking.

“Oh fuck,” he said, going limp on the floor, feeling Rodney’s mouth pull away. He felt Rodney nip below his belly button again, and he shuddered as that mouth moved back up. Rodney kissed him, his cock beginning to rub against the groove of his hip.

Rodney kissed him deeply, and John was sure he was going to die, his arms wrapped around Rodney’s shoulders as he held on, unable to do anything but go along for the ride. His limbs felt heavy, and he could still feel nothing but pleasure as Rodney’s hips began to speed up.

“C’mon,” he muttered, his hands sliding down Rodney’s back to grip his ass, feeling the flexing of the muscle as Rodney continued to thrust against him.

Rodney was oddly silent, pressing his face into John’s neck, biting down as he came with a groan, and John could feel the warm wetness, and if he was twenty years and a few major surgeries younger, he could probably come from that sensation alone.

Rodney collapsed on him, breathing heavily, and John wrapped his arms around him, enjoying the weight as the two of them caught their breath. They laid there for a moment before Rodney finally rolled off him with a groan. John instantly missed the warmth and the weight on top of him.

He felt smug as he turned his head, watching Rodney as the other man caught his breath. He was flushed, eyes closed and a soft smile on his face. John moved without thinking, propping himself up on an elbow so he could look at Rodney. “Hey,” he said, waiting for Rodney to open his eyes before leaning down to kiss him.

Rodney stilled for a moment before kissing him back for a moment before pushing John back, frowning at him. “This isn’t a one-time thing, right?”

John almost felt offended, but he also knew Rodney, and he knew fucked up he had been over his relationship with Keller. He shook his head. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Rodney watched his face for a moment before he nodded his head. “Good. Good, of course, it wouldn’t be.”

John smiled and dropped back down onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “We just had sex on the surface of a moon,” he felt inclined to point out, suddenly aware he was bare assed on the surface of the moon, in an Ancient facility that was tens of thousands of years old. He groaned and pulled his pants up, ignoring the mess across his stomach. He had a spare pair of pants in the jumper anyway.

“We did,” Rodney said, sitting up and leaning over John to grab his half-eaten sandwich.

John watched as he crossed his legs and leaned against his knees, eating the sandwich and his eyes moving between the black hole and John. For his part, John felt smug when he noticed Rodney was watching him more than the black hole. “You’re quiet,” he pointed out, folding his arms behind his head.

“You’re distracting,” Rodney said around a mouthful of his sandwich. “You’re half-naked, a mess and looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m the most interesting thing around,” Rodney replied, glancing to the side before looking down.

John shifted and pushed himself up until he was sitting, knees bent and elbows resting on them. He looked out at the image in front of them before turning his head to look at Rodney. “You are,” he said with a shrug, feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the openness.

Rodney looked a little stunned, but he smiled, looking down at the sandwich for a second before looking back at John. “Why didn't you let me know you wanted to do all of this.”

“Figured it was the only way to do it—a surprise. You don’t like being asked out,” John replied. “I distinctly remember that conversation because it was weird. So I found something you’d like, got food, and we came. I wasn’t expecting all of this, though.”

Rodney gaped at him for a few seconds before he dropped his head into his hands, half smashing his sandwich. “Oh, for fucks sake,” Rodney muttered, pulling his head back and looking at the sandwich with disgust.

“What?” John demanded, switching the mashed sandwich out of his hand with one of the unmashed ones.

“That’s…how…John!”

“What?”

John looked at the sandwich before shrugging and taking a bite, looking over at Rodney, who was looking between the sandwiches with confusion for a second before he set it down and turned to face John fully. John felt trepidation, and he frowned, turning to face Rodney, suddenly well aware they were both shirtless with pants undone.

“John,” Rodney said carefully. “What do you remember about that conversation?”

John frowned. “That Cadman had surprised you with the date with Katie, and it had been weird, and then Keller told you she wanted a beer and you had felt awkward.”

Rodney looked more surprised, and he clasped his hands together, looking like he was praying. “And somehow that turned into you thinking I didn’t like being asked out?”

John took another bite and nodded. “Well, yeah.”

Rodney dropped his head into his hands, mumbling something before lifting his head and looking back at John. “John, I felt put on the spot both times, and that’s why I didn’t like it. I don’t mind being asked out.”

“Oh.”

John rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well,” he said before he shrugged. “I didn’t put you on the spot, so that’s good, I suppose.”

Rodney snorted and shook his head, moving to kneel and lean over, cupping the back of John’s neck and kissing him. “No, I suppose you didn’t,” he said when he pulled back from it.

John grinned and leaned in to kiss Rodney again, slowly this time, wanting to take the time to get to know all of Rodney. When he pulled back, he felt as flushed as Rodney looked, and despite being on the achier side of 40, he felt energized. Rodney’s fingers trailed through his hair along the side where John knew he was going gray and pressed their foreheads together.

“You’re an idiot,” Rodney said affectionately.

“We’re on the surface of a moon. We just had sex. And there’s food. I don’t think I’m that much of an idiot,” John replied, pulling back and moving to stand, holding out one hand to Rodney to help him stand. Rodney took it, and John hauled him up.

“I can’t argue with you on that,” Rodney murmured, stepping closer, the two of them standing chest to chest. “You’re still an idiot, though.”

John shrugged. “It got us here in the end, and that’s the important part,” he said, wanting to move on because he did feel a little bit stupid about it, and he didn’t want to dwell that.

Rodney sighed. “It got us here is your life motto, isn’t it?”

“It got me here, didn’t it?” John asked with a grin.

Rodney rolled his eyes and pulled him into another kiss. John was never going to get tired of it, and he had only been half-joking about getting to the end. He always jumped into things feet first, and of all the cliffs he had jumped off, this was the best.

Rodney pulled back and nodded. “Right, here’s the plans. Shirts, food, data, food, sex, home?”

“That works for you.”

“What about you?”

“Well, I don’t need the data. So mine is shirt, food, watching, food, sex, home,” he said with a shrug, stepping back and hiking up his pants where they had slipped, beginning to do them up.

Rodney watched him for a second, his eyes stuck on what John’s hands were doing. He smirked, slowing down slightly. “McKay,” he said when he was done with the last button, watching as Rodney shook himself and looked up. “Shirt.”

“Right,” Rodney replied, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on. “You’re distracting.”

“Eat quick, download faster. We can skip the second round of food and have fun. We’re not expected back for a couple of hours.”

“A couple hours?” Rodney asked.

“Yep,” John said, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on. “Got a check at four and eight, and supposed to be home by 12.”

Rodney eyed him. “I can set up the data to download without help,” he said slowly. “Wouldn’t want to waste the food.”

“Or the view.”

Rodney smiled at him, and John smiled back, feeling something settle in his chest.

“Or the view.”

**Conclusion. If you feed an astrophysicist food and show him stars, he jumps you. Results repeatable as needed.**


End file.
